California, Massachusetts, and 18 other states filed a lawsuit Friday against President Donald Trump’s $100,000 fee on new H-1B visa petitions.

“President Trump’s illegal $100,000 H-1B visa fee creates unnecessary—and illegal—financial burdens on California public employers and other providers of vital services, exacerbating labor shortages in key sectors,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement.

The lawsuit alleged the fee is unconstitutional because the administration exceeded the fee-setting authority granted by Congress and did not go through a notice-and-comment process.

As Jill McLaughjlin details below via The Epoch Times, Trump instituted the $100,000 fee on Sept. 19, saying the order and his immigration Gold Card program would “reduce our taxes greatly and hopefully bring some great people into our country.”

Foreigners in “specialty occupations”—such as tech, science, and medicine—can apply for the temporary work visas, which can last up to six years. The workers must be sponsored by an employer to be accepted into the program.

Trump said in his Sept. 19 proclamation that the measure is designed to curb “systemic abuse” of the high-skilled visa system and protect U.S. workers—especially in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math.

The president said that many companies were exploiting existing rules by laying off their U.S.-citizen workforce and replacing them with cheaper H-1B workers. When announcing the changes on Sept. 19, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that their aim was to encourage companies to hire American citizens.

Current H-1B visa holders and renewals are exempt from the fee, according to the White House.

Congress limits the number of work visas available each year for most private employers, with the current nationwide cap set at 65,000, and an exemption for 20,000 people with a master’s degree or higher.

Bonta and the other states involved in Friday’s lawsuit argued Congress makes decisions about the program’s operations.

The states opposing the new fee also said they were concerned that some employers selectively disfavored by the Trump administration would be more likely to be charged the fee.

Bonta said the visa fee is “devastating for all states, including California, and threatens the quality of education, healthcare, and other core services available to our residents.”

The plaintiffs are also concerned that the visa program would worsen the national teacher shortage, as educators are the third-largest occupation among work visa holders.

The other states that have joined in the legal action are Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.

Friday’s lawsuit is the 49th legal action filed by Bonta against the Trump administration this year.

Attorney General of Massachusetts Andrea Joy Campbell speaks onstage during EMILYs List's 2023 Pre-Oscars Breakfast at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif., on March 7, 2023. Araya Doheny/Getty Images for EMILYs List

California Gov. Gavin Newsom and the state Legislature, dominated by a Democratic supermajority, set aside $25 million in taxpayer funds last year to pay for litigation against Trump. Bonta spent $5 million of that this year to hire attorneys specifically to handle the extra workload, his press office told The Epoch Times on Dec. 1.

The office is also getting another $14.2 million in this fiscal budget cycle, which runs until June 30, 2026, to hire more attorneys for additional lawsuits against the administration.

“We’re appreciative of [Newsom] and the Legislature for seeing the importance of this work and ensuring our office has the resources we need to take on the fights ahead,” Bonta’s press office said.

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